This box contains phonics tiles purchased from Walmart. Students use the tiles to build words with specific sounds. Can be used with beginning and vowel sound worksheets with silent e words for the students.
I use a work sheet from Frank Schaffer that allows me to program specific sounds. Students then use the tiles to build words using those sounds and record them on the worksheet. A teacher can create custom worksheets for this box. This could also be a word family word work center where students could create new words using specific families. There are some resources from Amazon that would help set up an instant word work center. Word work centers are great because a student can always re-visit this center to build new words or spell words with a new spelling focus.
2.Magnetic Words
This box contains a variety of small and large magnetic letters. Students use the letters to build words on a metal filing cabinet in our classroom library. This is a great center for building vocabulary. I like to include lists of words that pertain to specific units.
3.Sight Words
This box contains activities for sight word review. The box also contains sight word cards and a fly swatter. Students lay the cards on the floor and smack words as they read them. From time to time, I will also include Sight Word Bingo or "Bunny Bowling." I picked up a mini-bowling set at Easter last year. I wrote a sight word on each bunny bowling pin with a sharpie marker. Students read the words on the pins they knock down! The Word Wall is a great resource for this center. Students can practice words by choosing a cheer card and chanting and spelling words or they can play word wall bingo.
4.Word Wall
Students may use letter stamps to stamp words from the word wall.
5.Listening Centers
This box contains two inexpensive walkmans from Walmart. Keep two or three different books with tapes in the box. Use a larger box for this activity. Sterlite makes sweater boxes that are just the right size for books and worksheets! The kids love to look at the mini sound/spelling cards. The box also has foam letters for spelling words.
6.Clap A Word
This box contains a pair of gardening gloves, a variety of picture cards, and a recording sheet. Students put on the gloves and pick a card. They say the word, clap it, and then write the word and record how many syllables are in the word. This a fun activity! Encourage students to write the vowels in red or highlight them with another color.
7.Treasure Chest
This is a very high interest center! Inside the tub is a small treasure box. I add 4-5 different items to the box. Students take out the items and write the word for each item on a recording sheet. Then, they use the words to write complete sentences. I change out the items as the kids tire of the old items.
8.Lace a Word
This box contains alphabet letter beads. Try and keep them in two containers, one for vowels and one for consonants, but the kids always mix them up!! The kids string words on pipe cleaners and then record them on a report form. Can use pipe cleaners instead of yarn or string because it is stiff and easy for young fingers to work with. Afterwards, students pick a couple words to use in sentences. The original activity sheet was created by Cindy Gibson, a wonderful first grade teacher. An activity sheet can be created on Microsoft word by selecting the words you want the student to practice.
9.Newspaper
Learning Objective: Gaining familiarity with newspapers and reading for information, finding sight words and practice words search
Materials:
Newspapers
Task Cards
Index Cards
Tray
Presentation and Storage:
You will need ongoing access to newspapers for this center. You don’t need a class set of papers for this center. Four to six copies works just fine. Copy and cut apart the task cards or create some of your own, and store them in a small tray on top of the newspapers.
Process:
Students choose a task card and use the newspaper to find and record information. The skills covered by the task cards cover common newspaper sections and address a range of curriculum areas. This is an excellent center for integrating other subject areas.
Newspaper Task Cards
Task #1
Make a collage of words and pictures from the newspaper that describes you.
Task #2
Cut out three people pictures from the newspaper. Write a story about these people. Describe how they are connected with each other.
Task #3
Find and read an advertisement. Write a paragraph describing why they should or should not buy this product.
Task #4
Cut out an interesting picture from the newspaper. Write a news story to explain it.
Task #5
Cut out an interesting picture from the sports section. Write a sentence describing what happened just before this picture was taken.
Task #6
Look through the sports section. Cut out at least ten action words and glue them on a sheet of construction paper. write five more action words yourself.
Task #7
Find at least ten of the silent e words from a single page.
Task #8
Find a picture of an animal. Write as many adjectives as you can to describe that animal.
10. Scavenger Hunt
Have some of the words cut out and laminated on a colored paper. Put these words all round the room. Have the students do a scavenger hunt and go around the room to find it. This is a very good activity and keeps student on the move and looking for the words they read more on the walls of the room in search of their words. This perticular activity is good for individual, pair or group work.
Materials:
Clip Board
Laminated colored paper with words
hanging material
Lined writing paper for students to write on.
Learning Center Activities
1.Build a word
I use a work sheet from Frank Schaffer that allows me to program specific sounds. Students then use the tiles to build words using those sounds and record them on the worksheet. A teacher can create custom worksheets for this box. This could also be a word family word work center where students could create new words using specific families. There are some resources from Amazon that would help set up an instant word work center. Word work centers are great because a student can always re-visit this center to build new words or spell words with a new spelling focus.
2.Magnetic Words
3.Sight Words
This box contains activities for sight word review. The box also contains sight word cards and a fly swatter. Students lay the cards on the floor and smack words as they read them. From time to time, I will also include Sight Word Bingo or "Bunny Bowling." I picked up a mini-bowling set at Easter last year. I wrote a sight word on each bunny bowling pin with a sharpie marker. Students read the words on the pins they knock down! The Word Wall is a great resource for this center. Students can practice words by choosing a cheer card and chanting and spelling words or they can play word wall bingo.
4.Word Wall
Students may use letter stamps to stamp words from the word wall.5.Listening Centers
This box contains two inexpensive walkmans from Walmart. Keep two or three different books with tapes in the box. Use a larger box for this activity. Sterlite makes sweater boxes that are just the right size for books and worksheets! The kids love to look at the mini sound/spelling cards. The box also has foam letters for spelling words.
6.Clap A Word
This box contains a pair of gardening gloves, a variety of picture cards, and a recording sheet. Students put on the gloves and pick a card. They say the word, clap it, and then write the word and record how many syllables are in the word. This a fun activity! Encourage students to write the vowels in red or highlight them with another color.
7.Treasure Chest
This is a very high interest center! Inside the tub is a small treasure box. I add 4-5 different items to the box. Students take out the items and write the word for each item on a recording sheet. Then, they use the words to write complete sentences. I change out the items as the kids tire of the old items.8.Lace a Word
This box contains alphabet letter beads. Try and keep them in two containers, one for vowels and one for consonants, but the kids always mix them up!! The kids string words on pipe cleaners and then record them on a report form. Can use pipe cleaners instead of yarn or string because it is stiff and easy for young fingers to work with. Afterwards, students pick a couple words to use in sentences. The original activity sheet was created by Cindy Gibson, a wonderful first grade teacher. An activity sheet can be created on Microsoft word by selecting the words you want the student to practice.9.Newspaper
Learning Objective:
Gaining familiarity with newspapers and reading for information, finding sight words and practice words search
Materials:
Presentation and Storage:
You will need ongoing access to newspapers for this center. You don’t need a class set of papers for this center. Four to six copies works just fine. Copy and cut apart the task cards or create some of your own, and store them in a small tray on top of the newspapers.
Process:
Students choose a task card and use the newspaper to find and record information. The skills covered by the task cards cover common newspaper sections and address a range of curriculum areas. This is an excellent center for integrating other subject areas.
Newspaper Task Cards
Make a collage of words and pictures from the newspaper that describes you.
Cut out three people pictures from the newspaper. Write a story about these people. Describe how they are connected with each other.
Find and read an advertisement. Write a paragraph describing why they should or should not buy this product.
Cut out an interesting picture from the newspaper. Write a news story to explain it.
Cut out an interesting picture from the sports section. Write a sentence describing what happened just before this picture was taken.
Look through the sports section. Cut out at least ten action words and glue them on a sheet of construction paper. write five more action words yourself.
Find at least ten of the silent e words from a single page.
Find a picture of an animal. Write as many adjectives as you can to describe that animal.
10. Scavenger Hunt
Have some of the words cut out and laminated on a colored paper. Put these words all round the room. Have the students do a scavenger hunt and go around the room to find it. This is a very good activity and keeps student on the move and looking for the words they read more on the walls of the room in search of their words. This perticular activity is good for individual, pair or group work.
Materials:
Clip Board
Laminated colored paper with words
hanging material
Lined writing paper for students to write on.